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As fresh allegations involving the Ford family and drugs emerged Saturday, Councillor Doug Ford kicked into defence mode, calling reports that he was once an accomplished hashish dealer “disgusting” and an “outright lie” and accusing the media of attempting to “go after our family’s character.”

“Why don’t we talk about the great things the Ford family has done for Etobicoke? And throughout the city?” asked Ford in an interview with Global News Saturday, listing his family’s charitable donations benefitting Etobicoke General Hospital and various sports teams.

Ford appeared on numerous radio and TV shows Saturday to rebut a front page Globe and Mail article claiming he was a successful hash dealer for several years in Etobicoke during the 1980s.

Using 10 anonymous sources, the newspaper published a story Saturday outlining the Ford family’s alleged history with drugs. These sources include two former suppliers, three street-level drug dealers and a number of casual users, according to the article.

Sources in the article also named David Price, the mayor’s former high school football coach-turned official adviser, as a member of Doug Ford’s circle at the time.

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The Star has not verified the allegations. A request for comment from Price was not returned Saturday.

In early morning interview with Citytv, Ford called the media “bunch of sick sleazeballs that want to destroy families that give back to their communities.” Throughout the day he railed off a list of personal and family accomplishments, including the involvement of himself and Doug Ford Sr. in the Rexdale Rotary Club.

“We have a slogan in Rotary, ‘Service above Self,’ and that represents the Fords,” he said in an interview with Global News.

While admitting to recreational use of marijuana in high school — “like everyone else,” he told Global News — he claimed he hates drugs and does not even take Aspirin.

Ford also took personal aim at Globe and Mail editor John Stackhouse for publishing the story. In a statement to the Star Saturday, Stackhouse said the Fords were “again trying to distract attention from serious questions.”

“We spent 18 months of painstaking reporting to shed light on important aspects of the Ford family’s past, and we stand by that reporting. For the sake of Toronto, Doug Ford should speak to the specifics of our story,” Stackhouse said.

In an editor’s letter about the story published Saturday, Stackhouse said the paper decided to publish the investigation this week because of the intense public interest around the Ford family and alleged substance abuse.

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Globe reporters approached Rob and Doug Ford several times to speak to the allegations, but “Doug Ford rebuffed our entreaties, and aggressively threatened legal action,” Stackhouse wrote in the letter.

Asked by CP24’s Stephen LeDrew why the Ford’s weren’t suing for libel, Ford said he did not want to go up against companies with “billions of dollars.”

“Can I go up, little David and Goliath, I’m fighting for the little guy, and I’m going to try and sue a multibillion dollar organization that…. drags it out for five years?” Ford said.

Reaction from city councillors reached by the Star Saturday was mixed. Councillor Josh Matlow called the new scandal another part of the “sideshow” that distract from what matters.

“All these controversies combined have created a very surreal environment at city hall,” he said.

Noting that he didn’t know Doug Ford until 1994, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he has never seen anything since that time that “would indicate that kind of background.”

Though he said he questions the veracity of the allegations, Councillor Frank Di Giorgio said “there was a lot of that” happening in high schools in the 1980s.

“It’s interesting because I think Councillor Ford has some pretty good business sense, and I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if he were involved in some kind of business venture back then,” he said.

Speaking to LeDrew, Ford went on to say that he and Mayor Rob Ford would be willing to step down and have an early election and prove they still have support from Toronto citizens.

“I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,” Rob Ford said.

Two Toronto Star reporters and an editor at Gawker have watched the video, which was being shopped around by some Toronto drug dealers for six figures.

Ford said throughout the day that his brother waited over a week to address the allegations because he was getting conflicting advice: Legal experts were telling Ford to stay quiet, while political advisers were telling the mayor to talk.

The Globe’s article also claims Ford brother Randy was once charged in relation to a drug-related kidnapping and that their sister, Kathy Ford, has been the victim of drug-related gun violence in the past.

The Star does not know the outcome of Randy Ford’s charge.

There is nothing on the public record the Globe has accessed that shows Doug Ford has ever been charged for illegal drug possession or trafficking, according to the article.

Several of the sources interviewed by the Globe said they saw the mayor around his brother as he was allegedly doing business but that he did not appear to be involved in any significant way.

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